Proboscis

A proboscis is a long, tube-like part that comes from the head of an animal. Animals can be vertebrates, which have backbones like humans and mammals, or invertebrates, which don’t have backbones like insects and spiders.

When we talk about invertebrates, a proboscis is usually a special set of mouthparts they use to feed or suck up food. These help them reach their food easily.

In vertebrates, a proboscis is a long nose or snout. This feature can help the animal smell or sense its surroundings better.

The word “proboscis” comes from science and is used to describe these special body parts in many different animals.

For more information, you can read about the Proboscis (genus), the Proboscis monkey, or the Proboscis (anomaly).

Etymology

The word "proboscis" entered English in 1609. It comes from a Latin word, which in turn came from an Ancient Greek word meaning "to feed or nourish." In English, we can use either "proboscides" or "proboscises" when talking about more than one proboscis.

Invertebrates

The word "proboscis" describes the tube-like mouthpart that some invertebrates use for feeding. This includes insects like moths, butterflies and mosquitoes, as well as worms such as Acanthocephala and proboscis worms, and gastropod molluscs.

Mosquitoes use their proboscis to drink blood. Only female mosquitoes drink blood, while males cannot break human skin with theirs. Both males and females eat fruit and flower nectar. The proboscis of mosquitoes is very sharp and has helped scientists improve medical tools.

Acanthocephala worms have a special proboscis with spines that they use to hold onto their host's gut.

Butterflies and moths have a proboscis made of two tubes that they can coil up when not in use. When they feed, they unfurl it to reach into flowers for nectar. Some moths, like Deilephila elpenor, hover near flowers and use their long proboscis to get food. Not all butterflies and moths feed as adults; some do not have mouthparts at all.

Some sea snails, like Mitra mitra, use a long, flexible proboscis to catch food. Other snails, called Kellet's whelks, also use their proboscis to feed on dead fish. Snails can push out their proboscis using body pressure and pull it back in using special muscles.

Vertebrates

The elephant's trunk and the tapir's long nose are called "proboscises". The same name is used for the snout of a male elephant seal.

Many mammals have a proboscis, such as:

• Aardvark
• Anteater
• Elephant
• Elephant shrew
• Hispaniolan solenodon
• Echidna
• Elephant seal
• Leptictidium (extinct)
• Macrauchenia (extinct)
• Moeritherium (extinct)
• Palorchestes (extinct)
• Numbat
• Proboscis monkey
• Saiga antelope
• Members of the tapir family

The proboscis monkey is famous for its very large nose. Sometimes, people jokingly call a big human nose a proboscis too.

Some fishes also have proboscises, like:

• Elephant fish
• Marlin
• Paddlefish
• Sailfish
• Spearfish
• Swordfish